If some metro Atlanta voters had their way, Donald Trump would not be our next president. But neither would Hillary Clinton.
Libertarian Gary Johnson? No.
Green Party nominee Jill Stein? Nope.
Independent candidate Evan McMullin of Utah? They didn’t want him either.
A week after Trump’s historic presidential election, a look at county elections records shows that thousands of people cast votes for candidates not on the ballot, not associated with politics, and in some cases, not even people. In Cobb, Gwinnett, Fulton and DeKalb counties, the lists of write-in candidates that voters selected are long, and include a mix of fictional characters, superheroes, inanimate objects and several rappers. Kanye West, who has actually flirted with the idea of running for office in 2020, earned write-in votes in each of the four core metro Atlanta counties.
In several cases, the voting records show that some people wrote in the major-party candidates instead of selecting them where they appeared on the ballot.
Unfortunately, those votes do not count, neither do the votes for many of the write-in candidates — like Superman and Gumby — won't count.
All qualified write-in candidates — which numbered 17 in Georgia for president — had to meet a series of deadlines before the election, publish an advertisement notifying the public of their candidacy and file the appropriate paperwork with the state. “My dog,” a popular write-in choice for some voters, didn’t have the opposable thumbs to do any of that.
Still, several pets and animals made the write-in lists. Here are a few other interesting “candidates” that appeared on ballots for president:
- Bruce Lee The Legend
- Bozo the Clown
- Chipper Jones
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Taco Bell
- Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair
- Toby Keith
- Satan
- Chicago Cubs
- Darth Vader
- Dirt
- Biscuit
- Katniss Everdeen
- Miles Davis
- Nick Saban
- "We are Doomed"
